Happy Dance!

Thank God. I'll be leaving the hellhole in exactly one week!

I got the call today that I've been chosen for the PCT job. I can't express how thrilled I am to have a hospital job on an ICU floor. The interview yesterday went extremely well!

Once the formal interview was over, I got a chance to take a tour of the ICU floor. 24 beds total, which houses the sickest patients in the entire hospital! Yes! The floor is comprised of 4 separate units: MICU, SICU, NICU (neuro), and EICU (still don't know what this is all about). I'll be working nights, so I will have 12 patients on every assignment if all beds are full. Walking into an empty patients room made me feel like a kid in a candy store. All the buttons, lights, lines, sounds...I can't wait to work there! I start orientation on the 29th. That means I will in fact have Christmas off this year.

The job of a PCT has grown over the years. PCT's are a fairly new addition to the hospital setting. As the years go by, they are able to do more and more. I've heard of PCT's inserting IV's, foleys, doing EKG's, and even administering meds. Of course, there is some controversy due to scope of practice, and nurses feeling like their turf is being taken by unlicensed personnel. My take! Who cares! A PCT will never be a nurse, just like a nurse will never be a doctor. A doctor can start an IV just like a nurse, but you don't see nurses complaining about that. Everyone wants to be respected for the job they do. In my book, there is room for everyone in healthcare.

My duties will include all the normal CNA stuff, but I will also be responsible for vital signs, glucose finger sticks, running EKG's, and connecting monitors. Hopefully, I can also use my phlebotomy skills, too.